I’d Like To Get To Know You better. 1
A look into how Female Sex Lives are viewed in the 21st Century.
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ELEANOR BARKER n0560974 word count: 7,352
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1
CHAPTER
part one
female confidence
part two
history of feminsm
part three cultural divide
part five
flying the flag for female sexual liberation
part six
the forboding world of sexual exploration
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2
CHAPTER
part one the big idea
part two case studies
part three
introducing peach
part four the consumers
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CHAPTER
part one
route to consumer
part two pre launch
part three the launch
part four post launch
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part one:
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female confidence
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the global epidemic. In 2016, a report undertaken by Dove concluded that womens body confidence has become a ‘critical issue’ worldwide with more women than ever saying they are unhappy with their appearance, mainly due to unrealistic ideals being promoted by advertising and media (Moss, 2017).
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7 in 10 Women and girls are proud to be female and embrace it
(http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/dove-global-bodyimage-report_uk_5762a6a1e4b0681487dcc470) Fig.1
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% of women who feel body confident BY COUNTRY
(Dove Global Beauty and Confidence Report 2016)
UNITED STATES 24%
Canada 22% australia 20%
uk 20%
japan 8%
Fig.2
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Although lacking in self confidence, a majority of the women asked (77%) believed it is important to still be your own person. Women in the 21st Century want to change how they feel about themselves and hope that the the media can ‘do a better job portraying women of diverse physical appearance, age, race, shape and size’. Brands like Dove are taking the approach of using real women in advertising to try and encourage other women to be themselves and also love themselves (Dove US, 2017). Low body confidence is also stopping many women (85%) from engaging in sport and trying out for team or club activities (Moss, 2017). ThisGirlCan is fighting these statistics by helping women all over the UK to try out new sports and gain confidence through exercise and socialising.
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power play 2017 began with the inauguration of President Donald Trump which in effect sparked many women’s rights marches across the globe, due to his mysogynistic view on America and women. He said many inappropriate things during his career, and one statement that shocked the world was when he degraded women by saying “You can do anything … Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.”(Redden, 2017). It seems like a truly sad time to be a woman when the President speaks about females in this way but these mass protests show women all over the globe will not back down and that they are united and confident in fighting for what they believe in. What is more disturbing is the fact that even centuries ago women were still degraded in a similar way to how Trump speaks. Aristotle said that women were purely ‘passive receptacles for men to deposit their seed’ (Berkowitz and AlterNet, 2012). Even though so much time has passed between these two instances, the point is the same, that some men still don’t believe women to be an equal gender to themselves, therefore knocking down many women’s confidence levels.
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Fig.3
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part two:
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history of FEMINISM
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1
THE FIRST WAVE The start of modern feminism began in the late 18th century with the French Revolution and the Revolutionary Republican Women Citizens, who fought for womens rights to vote and civilian and military positions in the republic (Osborne, 2001). This spread over the channel to the UK where women started to take up writing to combat male oppression. Women such as Jane Austen and Hannah More took it up as a viable profession in the 18th Century and have become some of the most highly recognised female novelists.
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timeline of UK feminsm
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Fig.4
“No woman gets an orgasm from shining the kitchen floor. �
- Betty Friedan
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2
THE second WAVE Moving onto the 1950’s and 60’s feminism which is often referred to as ‘The Second Wave”, where women campaigned for numerous reasons including the way they are seen in the media, domestic violence and many other factors. (Walters, 2005). Feminism continued into the late 1960’s and early 70’s with the National Abortion Rights Action League forming in 1968 in the USA. The group was made up of of activists who were fighting for pro choice and for women to have access to safe abortions (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2007). The same thing was happening in the UK with The Abortion Act which came into effect on 27 April 1968 (UK Abortion Law, 2014).
Our Bodies, Ourselves was a book written by 12 women aged between 23 to 39 who met during a women’s liberation conference in Boston (Ourselves, 2017). They took part in a workshop called “Women and Their Bodies,” where they shared their experiences, stories and information on doctors. The results that came from this workshop were so provocative that they decided to publish their results in a format that was easily accessible to women through decades to come (Fig. 2) .
Fig.2
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THE third WAVE Third wave feminism began in 1990 and is seen as a newer type of feminism (Fisher, 2013). Many people believe that by the third wave, feminism had achieved what it set out to do. But feminism became something a lot more personal and women fought for their own identities rather than laws and the political process.
Third-wave feminism is said to have arisen out of “the realization that women are of many colors, ethnicities, nationalities, religions and cultural backgrounds.� (Fisher, 2013). Third wave feminism is still continuing and women are still fighting for the right to be women. Although first and second wave feminism did succeed in creating more equality in politics and law, I believe there is still a long way to go to create full equality between genders.
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Fig.6
“If you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.� - Margaret Thatcher (1965 speech) 21
part three:
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cultural divide
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There is considerable cultural divide between countries when it comes to sex and relationships. Some places have different laws in force and the sex education system in school has a big difference on how people are brought up thinking about sex. The difference between the UK and America is quite subtle from an adult standpoint, but if you look at the way young people are brought up there seems to be a staggering difference. In the USA the average American will have had intercourse by 17, which is in fact lower than the age of consent which is 18. In 2000, a story by the New York Times said that “sixth-graders were now, basically, treating fellatio like a handshake with the mouth” (Orenstien, 2016) and to one Long Island child psychologist “It’s like a goodnight kiss to them” to say these girls are between the ages of 11 & 12, I found it to be shocking. From growing up in the UK, young people here don’t tend to experience these things until they are older.
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Fig.7
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Fig.8
(http://www.alternet.org/sex-amp-relationships/12-most-sexually-satisfied-countries)
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MOST SEXUALLY SATISFIED COUNTrIES.. 1) Switzerland 2) Spain 3) Italy 4) Brazil 5) Greece 6) The Netherlands 7) Mexico 8) India 9) Australia 10) Nigeria 11) Germany 12) China
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Fig. 9 - Priyanka Paul
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To look totally away from Western ideals of sex, Africa came up as a continent with frankly an extreme look towards female sex. In Southern Senegal, “female circumcision is a new practice, supported primarily by older women and concludes that it is a strategy for women’s empowerment” (Wieringa, 2005). The other side of the argument is from the women who have been through this procedure and have shared their own experience of the ritual. One woman from the Maasai group in Kenya, said it is a ‘cultural and not religious practice’ which is neccessary for the girl to be considered a woman (Kisai, 2004). They also believe that the procedure will make a women less likely have sex before marriage or engage in adultery as its reduces the desire for sex.
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part FOUR:
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taking a personal look
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In the UK the average age for young heterosexual men and women to have sex was 16, which is also the legal age. Sex education is currently only taught at council run schools in the UK (Sellgren, 2017). It’s meant to prepare young people for the future but recently many issues have come up with the sex education system in the UK in that “children are not coming out of our schools really being equipped to deal with the modern world”. A survey created by Plan International UK asked 2,007 adults for their views on sex education. Only 27 per cent said they found it informative (Weale, 2017) which is a pretty shocking result. Plan International is fighting to improve sex education in schools as sex education is vital in preparing young people in later life.
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2012 DUREX STUDY
WHAT COUNTRY LOSES THEIR VIRGINITY THE YOUNGEST. (https://www.mtlblog.com/lifestyle/heres-the-age-people-around-the-world-lose-their-virginity)
Fig. 10
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Plan International UK are wanting schools to take on a different approach to sex education and teach it in a way similar to The Netherlands (Avery, 2016), explaining the important of sex and relationships and taking a more positive outlook on sex rather than scaring young children with too much technical jargon. The Netherlands has one of the lowest teenage pregnancy rates in the world and the rates of STI’s is also very low (Melker, 2015). Despite this seemingly poor education on sex, the younger generation, particularly millennials, have had generally fewer sexual partners on average than those in previous generation groups. (Burns, 2016) They are also more considerate of what consent actualy is, “As people have gotten much more accepting of all sorts of forms of consensual sex, they’ve also gotten more picky about what constitutes consent,”. (Burns, 2016). Despite this generation being given the nickname of the ‘hookup generation’ (Preidt, 2016), young people are actually more considerate about sex and are ‘choosier’ about who they want to be with.
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Fig. 11
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Fig. 12
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Another factor to take into consideration is the rise of online dating websites in the last decade which has gone up by 36% in only 2 years (Murnane, 2016). In 2013 there was only 10% of 18- to 24-year-olds using online dating which jumped up to 27% in 2016 (Smith and Anderson, 2016), maybe because of how easily accessible they are in day to day life. With one source claiming that Tinder is a way to achieve instant gratification and that “Sex has become so easy.” (Sales and Bishop, 2015). Casual sex is easier than ever with apps like tinder being constantly available. But for women it’s different for everyone, some women revel in the opportunity to be liberated just by using their smartphones. Atlantic writer Hannah Rosin said that “The hookup culture is … bound up with everything that’s fabulous about being a young woman in 2012—the freedom, the confidence.” (Sales and Bishop, 2015). This is a great example of a woman who has found happiness in casual sex. But for other women this is not the case and they may end up feeling devalued and used by hookup culture. “It’s rare for a woman of our generation to meet a man who treats her like a priority instead of an option”(Sales and Bishop, 2015).
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questionnaire on female sex lives
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87 participants
Fig 13
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part fIVE:
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flying the flag for female sexual liberation
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Fig 14
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The Monkifesto campaign (#monkifesto, 2016) was created to celebrate women in every form, from embracing periods, masterbation and generally telling women to embrace each other and be all inclusive. However, aspects of the campaign, especially the selection of images named ‘please yo’self’ promoting female masterbation, were pulled from MONKI’s social media due to many complaints, mainly saying that the campaign was encouraging women to watch porn (Carson, 2016). This is just so telling of how the world reacts to female sex, many people think of female masterbation as disgusting and not feminine and are disregarding a perfectly normal human function.
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Magazines and Zines are also progressing into a new wave of liberation. One of the examples would be MATH Magazine, a magazine created in Brooklyn which is based around erotica for the female gaze. It’s entirely female run and features some beautiful imagery. Sarah Mirk explained that ‘some of the images feel sex, others feel romantic, or sweet, or a little disturbing’ (Mirk, 2016). It’s a totally new magazine concept and is changing the way that porn is viewed in print form. On the other end of the scale, Polyester Zine and Girls Club Zine are two small zines produced in the UK by women which feature interviews, illustrations and photography based purely on women. They both discuss problems women face like body confidence issues, sex and identity in a fun and visually exciting way.
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S
T T U B D N #LOVE A
Fig 16
Fig 15
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Fig 17
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IN 5
Mobile searches are for pornography http://www.covenanteyes.com/pornstats/
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The porn industry is a massive financial superpower, with 1/3rd of internet traffic coming from porn (Ted Talks, 2014) and is currently worth $97 billion (Pandey, 2016). The industry is known for being misogynistic in every way, with one view saying that porn is mainstreaming the idea of sexual violence against women (Friedman, 2012) and is putting them in scenarios that make women out to be weaker than men.
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“It seems so obvious: If we invent a machine, the first thing we are going to do after making a profit is use it to watch porn.”
- Damon Brown, Author of Playboy’s Greatest Covers
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Fig 18
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Erika Lust is a pioneer in the porn industry. She studied political sciences, feminism and gender studies and later went into creating films that pushed the boundaries of what porn is. “I realised that mainstream porn is not something that really reflects any truths about sex. So the more I learnt about the discourse of pornography, the more I wanted to try to create something totally different in the genre - an alternative.� (Lust, 2017). Women’s pleasure is at the heart of her idea, but also the entire process of making the film is surrounding women, including the producers and the actresses involved.
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Fig 19
Erika’s business is called X-Confessions where women can send in any stories and desires they may have and she will turn 2 a month into short erotic films which focus on the female. Since her first film release in 2004 which received 2 million views in the first few days (Ted Talks, 2014). Her brand is focusing the shift away from Male focussed porn and is making the industry far more inclusive with a different feel to anything normally associated with mainstream porn sites.
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“That is why feminism is so necessary. Feminism pushes men and women to think more deeply about sexual objectification and exploitation and to fight for freedom, equality and individual expression.�
- Erika Lust
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GurlsTalk is another fantastic outlet I found to help women which ‘strives to create a platform where girls can openly share their experiences and feelings in a safe and trusting environment’ (GurlsTalk, 2017). They work on a basis of helping other women with any problems they may be having which I feel is fantastic for the current generation of girls who are still finding out about themselves.
Fig 20
To quote their website “We strive to show girls that you are not alone, and that by opening up and sharing your personal stories, you too can discover that many others are going through the same things” They have somewhere safe to ask questions and not feel judged. GurlsTalk is solving this problem, its building up a community of strong confident women which is so important.
Fig 20
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Fig 21 - Scandinaviandreamgurl
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part SIX:
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the foreboding world of sexual exploration
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Despite so many negative factors effecting females and sex, the world has definitely progressed into a place where women can be open and share their experiences. As previously mentioned there are brands delving into this world who are taking it head on and tackling these issues in a very overt way. However there are many women who will not know about these brands as they are not yet visible in the mainstream media. A significant turning point in helping women express their sexuality and desires were the 50 Shades of Grey book’s series.
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Fig 22
sex toy sales across the market 2016
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http://www.statisticbrain.com/sex-toy-statistics/
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The book’s swept the entire world and became a huge success reaching 100 million sales in 2014 (Lewis, 2014) It was then adapted into a film in 2016. In 2012, a year after the books were first released, the brand LELO saw sales of whips and teasers increase by more than 50 percent and sales of pleasure beads increase by more than 200% (Sollee, 2014). Women (and couples) were becoming way more adventurous in the bedroom all thanks to a book. The argument for this is that although women were buying into the sex toy business did they really know what they were doing. The world of sex toys is vast and from personal experience fairly overwhelming, and did these women even know what to do with these toys.
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Similarly, one online sex store called ‘Spectrum Boutique’ believe ‘conversations around sex are more nuanced and evolved than ever as focus shifts from cis-men and increasingly gives space to female and LGBTQ experiences’ (Syfret, 2016). Owner, Zoe Ligon believed that many of the typical market sex stores didn’t cater for a younger audience and 18-25 year olds were often left out of the equation, which is what lead to her starting up spectrum boutique. Zoe herself has a huge online presence where she shows products, but also aims to “educate, engage and make people comfortable with their own sexuality”. In terms of catering to sexual desires, this brand is fantastic at promoting not only good sex, but also wellness and empowerment amongst all women.
Fig 24
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Fig 25
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CHAPTER
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part ONE:
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THE BIG IDEA to create a subscription box TO EMPOWER WOMEN TO BE OPEN AND TALK ABOUT SEX IN A FUN AND LIGHTHEARTED WAY
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It may be too broad to think that every single woman can instantly feel empowered by a certain product or service, which led me to thinking that surely there should be something out there for women to own or read to hopefully help them feel this way. Print media seemed to be a viable option as I feel like my idea can be broad in the way of creativity and content. However there was so many publications already out there on the market covering almost every topic which lead me to thinking that there may be way too much competition. The number of people who still regularly buy print is decreasing year by year (Wang, 2017) making this a fairly niche market.
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Fig 26
Fig 27
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Another option was a subscription based service which really interested me. They’ve been around for years now but a website called ‘My Subscription Addiction’ said that “subscription box website visits have increased 3,000% over the last three years, reaching 21.4mil visits in 2016 alone” (WGSN, 2016) so the trend isn’t going anywhere any time soon. This lead me to look into the market and research what is currently available.
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Fig 28
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I wanted to create a Perceptual Map of subscription boxes for females on the UK market. I decided to use most and least expensive on one axis to see how they compare in price and also beauty and sex based on the other axis to visualise the theme. I chose beauty and sex on one axis as I feel like both of these themes can apply to making women feel confident and empowered. I positioned PEACH in the area of less expensive but more sex based, as there is definitely a gap in the market here.
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A WGSN report looked into how popular the trend of unboxing is across social media (WGSN, 2016). Many beauty boxes are created either partnered with beauty bloggers or solely created by them, so the focus around the box is very social media heavy. This trend has been made popular by people sharing their images and videos of unboxing with the #unboxing on instagram. Particularly those with a wide social media following, people want to see whats included in these boxes and it’s all there with the ease of searching a ‘#’.
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Fig 29
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Fig 30
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The report also leads onto the trend of using flat lays to display products. Just by searching ‘#flatlay’ on instagram, over 2 million images are shown from beauty products to books and food. One source claims this aesthetic of photography is popular for two reasons, the first being that people love things, and the second that people love order (Innis, 2016). So to combine these two things into a small square clean image is bound to be popular. Unlike many subscription boxes, internet influencers are at the forefront of promoting the product. It’s a slightly updated version of word of mouth advertising, and using these non celebrity influencers is vital for communicating towards millennials with 70% of them preferring non celebrity endorsements and listening more to online influencers (Howland, 2016).
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part two:
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case studies I’ve analysed 3 brands as part of my case studies to link to my big idea. I seperated my big idea into 3 categories; the first surrounding empowerment which would be Raven and Lily. The second would be sex and I chose Unbound Box. The final is talking and being open, in which I chose the app Eve by Glow.
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raven & lily what are they? Raven and Lilly is a brand originated in Austin Texas that creates pieces of jewellery. Their aim is to help women in 3rd world countries earn a fair living and break the cycle of poverty.
what do they do? The jewellery is made in Pakistan, India, Ethopia, Cambodia, Kenya and Peru by over 1500+ women. These women actually reinvest 90% of their income back into health, education, food, children, family, and the community. By having this income they can lead a better life and improve the lives of others. All the materials they use are fully recycled and repurposed which shows they are a brand leading the way in terms of changing the environment and the amount of waste the industry typical disposed of.
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This brand is fantastic in terms of how they empower women as it all goes in a full circle. The women who are making the products in these 3rd world countries are being empowered through work and fair wages, which leads to them leading a happier life both for themselves and loved ones. The jewellery is then sold to women all over the world who feel empowered through not only a brand new piece of jewellery that makes them feel good and confident, but that they know that through the purchase, they are helping women across these poverty stricken countries to lead a better life.
key insight: In terms of empowerment and confidence, Raven and Lilly are great at making women all over the countries feel better about themselves. Although this a jewellery brand and very different to my intended idea, the core beliefs that the brand has of being all empowering through every aspect of the business is something important.
Fig 31
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unbound box what are they? Unbound Box was started up by a group of New York City women whose aim was to make sex better for women by selling erotic goods through a discreet subscription service.
what do they do? The box is very much based around sex, it features sex toys, body oil and condoms all to help women achieve a better sex life, for herself or her partner. The box retails at $65 per quarter, but for the price you receive a brand new sex toy which can be expensive in its own right. Starting in 2016, Unbound donates 6.9% of all profits to nonprofit organisations that support female sexual health and wellbeing.
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Fig 27
key insight: The box is helping women to express their sexuality in the intimacy of their own homes. They don’t even have to leave their houses to pick up brand new and exciting products. Unbound is promoting sexual health through their product but also empowering women and couples to get in touch with their sexual desires.
Fig 32
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eve - by glow what are they? Eve is an app which is designed to help women track their periods, contraception and sexual health easily from their smartphones. The app features a community section where you can chat to other like minded women about sex, contraception and any problems women may be having. The app also features an online store where women can purchase ‘gems’ which contain tips and tricks to help better your sex life.
what do they do? Eve is actively removing the stigma of women talking about sex through an online medium. The app offers a safe space away from men where women can go to discuss their problems. They apply scientific data surrounding females health and wellbeing into data which in turn helps empower women with new information to help them learn about their bodies.
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key insight: It may be easier for some women to go online to discuss any problems of questions than speak to other women in person. Eve is offering this service to women in private who may not have the confidence to speak to their friends or family about certain issues. The app is empowering women to take control of their sexual health by being able to log on and communicate in a safe space with no judgement. It does have a similar idea to what I want my product to achieve but the platform is different with it being only available online and with access to a smartphone.
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Fig 33
part three:
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introducing peach
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When carrying out my primary and secondary research, a big trend that popped up in 2016/2017 was the need for personalisation in products. So many more brands are offering this as a service as customers are becoming more and more savvy with what they buy. “In 2015, 45% of shoppers spent money on personalising a product or experience, showing a lean towards an all-about-me sentiment among consumers” (WGSN, 2017) They want an entire experience and don’t just want to be handed products, they want things which are specifically tailored to them.
I wanted to create PEACH, a box thats entirely
created for each individual consumer. Unlike many other subscription boxes where you can’t choose what you receive in every box, I’d like to provide a new service where customers can pick and choose between certain products so they’re not receiving anything they don’t want or use. This will lead to total customer happiness because they will know exactly what they want. But for those who like a surprise they can order a ‘mystery’ box which features random products and they don’t have to chose. I do feel like many subscription boxes are fairly pricey for what you receive, Unboundbox retails at £50 every quarter (Unbound, 2017) which I feel is too much. The retail price for PEACH will be similar to that of UK beauty boxes such as Glossy Box and Birchbox, generally around £10 (GlossyBox, 2017). PEACH will be produced quarterly due to other special aspects of the box.
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unique selling points
1 2 3 4
FANTASTIC TOOL TO HELP WOMEN GET IN TOUCH WITH THEMSELVES
ENCOURAGING WOMEN TO BE OPEN ABOUT SEX
EMPOWERING WOMEN TO BE MORE CONFIDENT
FUN AND LIGHTHEARTED BRAND WITH A STRONG MESSAGE BEHIND IT
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For the branding I collaborated with a second year Graphic Design student Jenny Hancox who was fantastic to work with. The designs came out exactly how I wanted and I am extremely happy with it. For the packaging I wanted to create something that really shows the brand personality. The word PEACH came from brainstorming ideas around femininity and thinking about that in terms of products and food. At first PEACH did seem very girly so I wanted to go for a font that was very structured and thick to maybe counteract that femininity of the world. In terms of product design I wanted something that again showed the female aspect of my product so I chose a muted peachy pink colour. Jenny experimented with the use of bold colours, which represented the empowerment and confidence that my product is going to set out to achieve. For the logo I didn’t want it to come across as obvious. I could have chosen an actual peach to use as the logo but instead Jenny opted for a simple line drawing of a peach type shape. I feel like this is very effective as again it’s not going down the route of showing PEACH off to be a hugely girly brand, its something new and different.
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Fig 34
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part four:
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the consumers The consumers of my product are all different, therefore I couldn’t just put them in one box. I explored both ends of the spectrum in terms of personality. As I wanted my product to be all inclusive I needed to focus at women who may be more introverted about sex and not realise they need or want my product. The other side of it is someone who is confident and comfortable speaking out about their opinions when it comes to sex. The product will work for both consumers as I believe they will find common ground when it comes to sex. Experience and confidence doesn’t necessarily matter for my consumers, I’m wanting to continue to build theirs up through the purchase of PEACH.
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THE FORWARD FEMINIST
The Forward Feminist is someone who is strong and independent. They consider themselves and active feminist who follows whats going on in the world and always has something to say. Represented by bold colours and print to show her outgoing personality, the Forward Feminist is full of charisma and opinions, she’s not scared to show her true colours. Fig 35
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Fig 36
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THE DUBIOUS DREAMER
The Dubious Dreamer is a very free spirit, her love of travel has given her an deep understanding of the world and its many cultures. She’s introverted but confident in herself and very aware of how she is seen to the rest of the world. She’s represented through pastel tones and watercolour flows which show her ability to flow through life, and always keep dreaming.
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Fig 39
CHAPTER
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3 97
part one:
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route to consumer
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Consumers today are all on a wide variety of platforms and product advertising has adapted to this in many ways. One of them is the use of cookies which means that whatever the user is searching on another site, has the ability to pop up on the users social medias (Berke, 2010). For businesses this is fantastic as the consumer is forced to remember that product they may have viewed yesterday and eventually be persuaded to buy it, similar to how the Hyperdermic model works (Mishra, n.d.), the information is pushed onto the consumer until they cant seem to resist and buy the product or service But not all consumers are like this some are more active and can be adapted to Uses and Gratification theory (Chandler, n.d.), where they see the advertising and choose not to act on it, they are much more passive. It all depends on the consumer, so when advertising through online media can be very helpful for some brands. However it’s not always effective, which is why I want to take an approach where the consumer can make an active choice, it is not forced upon them. Mainly going through social media channels to advertise my product as then I have more of an active rein over what platforms to promote on and what kind of demographic to promote to.
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For some people my product may not be something they would ever buy due to the sexual products included in it. Therefore I need to be slightly more careful when advertising my product. For PEACH I don’t believe that advertising in some places would be that effective, such as TV advertising or mainstream print. However I think that poster print advertising in the big cities could work to reach my intended audience. Using the London underground would be a perfect example as the marketing wont be forced onto the consumers, it may be more subtle and make the consumer active into finding out what this product is which again links to the Hypodermic theory (Mishra, n.d.).
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Don’t release imagery of box at current date. Post visuals to let customers know what kind of brand PEACH is.
Outdoor advertising for PEACH is put out into main cities in the UK (london underground etc..)
june Start online promotion through social media channels (focussing on instagram, twitter and facebook).
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july
Collaboration with online web series, sex cafe where product is reviewed. This will give the customer the first glimpse of product in person.
Pre Launch
Product launch party to industry. Invite influencers to see the product and customise their own PEACH box. Have music and drinks at the event to make it entertaining
Post Launch
Product Launch! PEACH box send out to customers who pre ordered.
Launch online website for PEACH and accept pre orders
Send out product to influencers to review on their blogs, youtube or instagram
Launch
september
AUGUST Host events throughout the UK at Universities to promote the product and our brand message. Influencers will give talks at the events about PEACH, body confidence, sex etc. Students can also customise their own personal box at the events.
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LOYALTY LOOP start of social media campaign Introduce PEACH to social media - not just the product but all about the brand essence
INFLUENCERS
sex cafe talk Product is reviewed on the online web series which reaches a wider audience through YouTube
PEACH box is sent out to influencers to review should help with product anticipation
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1
CONSIDER
EVALUATE
The customer considers brands in terms of initial brand perceptions and exposure.
Consumers make decisions on the brands to evaluate what they want.
event launch PEACH box launch to influencers and industry - all posted on social media to excite consumers and tease about the box launch.
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uk tour PEACH does a UK tour around universities. Influencers speak at events and students can put together their own box
website opens
‘golden ticket’ competitions
Customers can begin to customise their box on the website and product will be sent out. They can chose to buy one box outright or subscribe to a quartley payment plan.
Customers have the chance to win a years subscription to PEACH if they hae a ‘Peach ticket’ in their box
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enjoy
buy
After purchasing the product, consumers will make decisions on how they feel about the product to inform the next decision journey.
advocate
bond
reviews
A big part of the brand bonding will be reading reviews online of PEACH. One part will be customer reviews, the other influencers and the final will be press reviews
PEACH continues to share content on instagram surrouding the brand. Potential for instagram competitions to win boxes through reposting.
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part two:
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pre launch
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I’d like to start by creating anticipation for the product before release. Because of my target consumer being mainly the younger generation of millennials I want to focus on social media as the initial promotion. Instagram is going to be key as i found that it is the most used app by millennial women aged 20-35 (Charrier, 2016). By putting out teaser images and other promotional imagery surrounding PEACH I hope to create anticipation for the product and tease potential consumers about whats going into the box.
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Fig 43
Fig 44
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Sex Cafe is a web series where they cover a range of topics from sex education to gender equality and experiences (Sex CafĂŠ Show, 2017). I want to organise a section of the website where they review and talk about PEACH and show how positive the product is in promoting confidence and empowerment in terms of sex. I want this to be the first time the physical box is shown in person, and hopefully will therefore create more anticipation if potential consumers see what the box looks like and what it contains.
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part three:
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the launch
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Fig 45
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INDUSTRY The next step of promotion is the PEACH launch party. I took inspiration from independent magazine launch parties where they seem a lot more casual and relaxed. I want to invite influencers who could promote my product and other people in industry who could be involved in PEACH, they can come and have drinks, view the box and products and hopefully leave with a clear idea of what PEACH is and promote on their own social media. The event will be fully female centred with a female DJ supplying music as well as girly fun cocktails, all these aspects hopefully will show off the PEACH brand identity of being fun, girly but bold and confident at the same time.
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After the launch party will be when the online store opens, consumers can go onto our online site and pre order PEACH. They will get the full experience of a customisable box and be able to set up their payment method at the same time, either pay £15 in full or set up a quarterly payment plan or £12 every 3 months allowing for flexible and non committal payments. The box will also be sent out to more influencers who couldn’t attend the launch party, again to receive reviews on our product and to persuade my target audience to pre order PEACH box.
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Fig 46
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Fig 47
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When creating a subscription box, the website is a key part of the brand. The fact that PEACH offers full box customisation means the website needs to be fully equipped to offer this service. I want the landing page to make a statement and show to the consumer our brand identity from the instant they click on the page. The copy should be colloquial and humorous which is how PEACH wants to communicate with the consumer. The main webpage will have links to subscribe to PEACH, an ‘about’ section with information about the brand values and what inspired the box, a blog page featuring articles surrounding women and current affairs, and a news section about whats new for the brand. It will also have links to PEACH boxes social media accounts so customers can see what we’re posting on there and also follow us for updates to the brand such as new box releases and reviews. Similar to the style of unboundbox website, PEACH box will have links running on the bottom of the page of external reviews of the box such a sites like NYLON and Glamour, this again will help to reinforce product positivity and help to drive sales. One of the main features that makes my box stand out from the rest is the product customisation of the box. Customers can choose which products they want in the box by using the product sliders on the page. It won’t alter the cost to chose different products which should lead to customer happiness as they are receiving something they chose themselves.
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After pre orders have been open for 2 weeks is when we officially launch the PEACH box to the UK and it will be sent out to the general public within a few days. On the box we will feature all our social media links so will be able to see if people are sharing the box images on instagram by tags and hashtags. As the intended target market is younger women aged 18-30, we want to do a mini uk tour where PEACH box will travel around to different Universities and host workshops with student who are interested in PEACH. The talks will feature special guests in the form of our key influencers who talk about the importance of self confidence and sex and also explain the ideas arounding PEACH and what we want to achieve with our box. At these workshops, we want to bring along the boxes and products and allow the women to chose their products in person to get an even more personalised experience.
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Fig 48
edinburgh
belfast
newcastle
leeds manchester nottingham
birmingham
bristol cardiff
london
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Fig 49
Fig 50
Subscribers : 130,395
Subscribers : 216,457
Theme: life, beauty, politics, sex and relationships
Theme: sex, mental health, self love & other social issues
Insta: @lexcanroar
Insta: http://www. graciefrancesca.com/
Subscribers : 335,490
Subscribers : 24,245
Theme: sex, relationships and other stuff
Theme: personal videos, lookbooks, hauls, beauty, travel
Blog: http:// hannahwitton.com/
Fig 51
Blog: www.emtalks.co.uk
124Fig 52
For PEACH, micro influencers are the way to go, but I need to make sure I’m targeting female influencers who are open and confortable speakign about sex and other topics to their followers. The main 4 i picked out were Grace Victory, Em Sheldon, Lex Croucher and Hannah Witton. All of them feature a similar theme of tackling taboo and personal topics through their youtube channels, blogs and social media accounts and therefore I believe all of them would be fantastic influencers to endorse PEACH.
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part four:
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post launch
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Once the boxes are sent out, consumers will have the chance to win a year subscription to PEACH if they receive a peach envelope with a note inside telling the customer they have won. They will be identified with gold foiling as part of the design (fig 53) and the others will be the standard card inside the box thanking customers for their purchase. I thought this would be beneficial as part of my campaign as 81% of millennials love the opportunity to earn certain bonuses while doing a specific activity (Nielsen, 2016) so for the chance to win something deemed exclusive could help drive feedback and in turn, more sales.
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Fig 53
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Once customers and influencers receive their PEACH box, feedback and reviews are going to be key in driving the business to succeed. 33% of millennials rely mostly on blogs to make a purchase (Schawbel, 2015). Also 90% of consumers read online reviews before making a purchase with 88% of them trusting the online reviews as much as personal recommendations (Rudolph, 2015). Having positive reviews available on our website will ensure product positivity and therefore persuade more potential consumers to buy PEACH. Similar to the Unbound box website, the reviews will be shown instantly on the landing page so consumers can see straight away the feedback given for PEACH which will help them to make a conscious decision to buy the product. A key aspect throughout the entire route to consumer is making sure the brand is constantly engaging with the customers through social media. A Forbes article wrote that ‘2% of millennials say that if a brand engages with them on social networks, they are more likely to become a loyal customer. They expect brands to not only be on social networks, but to engage them’ (Schawbel, 2015). Although this will mean more labour as a company, it will guarantee to be effective in building up my consumer base. Through reposting customer imagery to interacting with twitter followers, PEACH needs to be constantly engaging with the consumer.
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Fig 54
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THE FUTURE OF PEACH As mentioned in the Dove campaign, womens confidence is at an all time low here in the UK but also globally (Moss, 2017). PEACH is a brand that holds confidence and empowement at the heart of its core message. To look to the future, PEACH hopes that this brand message will spread through positive comments and through love of the box and its products to many women all over the UK and carry on helping these women to feel good about themselves but also enjoy sex and have fun with it. Hopefully, in time to come PEACH will have gained the popularity of the UK women and be able to spread to other countries like Europe and America and continue to spread this postive message. A lot like how Birchbox expanded over to the UK. PEACH will also continue to supply new and exciting products through the box and towards the future be able to find more intuitive and fun products to sell through PEACH without increasing the price of the box. PEACH needs to be constantly engaging with the consumer at every point as we want to recieve great customer feedback. But most importantly we also want to know that our consumer loves PEACH as much a we do!
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